If I remember rightly our benches aren't exactly huge and if you've got a top tier player or even a steady contributor missing for 'x' amount of games but will be back before the season is over, it might be an idea to have an IR slot to allow you to get cover without having to sacrifice them or another player to do it.

I have had some PM's about making the draft a 2100 or 2130 start, anyone have any objections to it being 2130? I believe it only took about 45-60 minutes last year and may be quicker again this year as it looks like there will be less entrants.
Any thoughts

Not sure if an IR slot is really necessary if there are only 12 teams this year , I can understand if there are 16 teams as usual . If there are 12 teams this year are we looking at 3 Divisions of 4 teams , with the Division winners and best runner up going into the play offs .

Just to clarify what I meant was a RES spot. That spot covers suspended, exempt, pup, IR (etc) players. So having that spot means if you have a player that is going to miss any time, for example a player that is designated to return, then you don't have to keep them on your bench they go onto RES.

I can see your point Dai about if the league is only 12 teams, but an injury to one of your starters without a RES spot could mean you are down to a 5 man bench.

Let's say you have Gronk (bye week 9) and Reed (bye week 5). In week 3 Gronk gets injured and goes on IR designated to return. Now in Reed you have a good replacement, but he has a bye in week 5, so how do you replace him? You aren't going to drop him or Gronk to get your bye week TE, and potentially you aren't going to want to drop your backup RBs or WRs because in a 12-man league your backups should be contributors. So the most likely player to sacrifice is your backup QB, but what if your starting QB also has a bye in week 5 (e.g. Ryan, Brees, or Cousins), that potentially means you have to go without a TE or give up one of those RBs or WRs to make sure you don't lose points. And that's without considering the possibility that you might have RBs or WRs from Atlanta, Denver, New Orleans or Washington to replace.

So while I agree that in a smaller league it might seem like a luxury we don't need, it can be helpful because things can get awkward during the season when bye weeks come around when you have injured players or players that are simply 'out' (e.g. someone stuck in concussion protocol). Having that RES spot can help ease that by freeing up a bench spot, so like in my example Gronk goes to the RES spot, and the extra bench spot can be your bye week TE.

Not sure if an IR slot is really necessary if there are only 12 teams this year , I can understand if there are 16 teams as usual . If there are 12 teams this year are we looking at 3 Divisions of 4 teams , with the Division winners and best runner up going into the play offs .

6 Teams - Half the league will get at least one play off game, on previous form that wont include me

Weeks 14, 15 & 16 will be the play offs and final and the shakedown will be thus
First week of playoffs:
#1 and #2 Seed: Bye
Game 1: #3 Seed vs #6 Seed
Game 2: #4 Seed vs #5 Seed
Second week of playoffs:
Game 3: Winner Game 1 vs #2 Seed
Game 4: Winner Game 2 vs #1 Seed
Third week of playoffs:
Winner Game 3 vs Winner Game 4 = CHAMPION

The Miami Sharks are back which is 13 we must have an even number before the season and draft can start. If no one else has re-joined or wants to take over a team by Midnight on Monday 28th then I'll run a team blind.

I'll draft a team on auto draft using best player available in every round.
The players NFL score prediction will dictate who starts each week, irrespective of match ups. If I don't have time to do that while the predictions are showing then the player with the highest average in a given position will be selected (which is pretty much the same thing)
The team will not draft or trade players
It would appear to be the only fair way to do it.

There is a vote on the NFL FF League site that I'd like you to cast a vote on.
Do you want an extra spot on your bench, and IR/Reserve slot or leave things as they are?
Pop over and cast your vote, usual rules apply - most votes wins, if there is a tie 'll flip a coin.
It'll close on Wednesday 30th at midnight.